“Cantsbee is actually the longest living male that we have ever recorded,” says Tara Stoinski, president of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, based in Atlanta, Georgia. The average age for this gorilla population is somewhere in the 20s.

The animal was also an incredible leader. Cantsbee reigned as dominant male of his group for two decades, sired more offspring than any gorilla known to science, and assembled the largest troop any scientist has ever observed.

Most gorillas live in groups of no more than 10, says Stoinski. But in his prime, Cantsbee’s troop included a whopping 65 gorillas.

Softy Silverback

Those who knew him best say he had a soft side. Stoinksi remembers watching Canstbee care for a half dozen infants once while their mothers went off to forage. Cantsbee is also credited with raising one of his sons, Gicurasi, after the juvenile’s mother died at an early age.

Gicurasi has been slowly taking on a greater leadership role, and he'll likely become the dominant male.

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Cantsbee, seen among his family in Rwanda, led the troop for two decades.

Photograph courtesy The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

Cantsbee’s name has a whimsical story. While observing the troop, Fossey had originally mistaken Cantsbee’s mother for a male. So when the scientist showed up one morning and found this supposedly male gorilla nursing an infant, Fossey apparently exclaimed, “It can’t be!”

This December will mark the 31st anniversary of Fossey’s murder—still unsolved—at her research camp on Mount Visoke. Her last journal entry remains as poignant as ever.

“When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.”